


Comfort of Strangers

by easydays



Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, that's literally it - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/easydays/pseuds/easydays
Summary: In which Kyle accidentally almost kills Dan (or maybe not. Just read to find out)
Relationships: Kyle Simmons/Dan Smith
Comments: 13
Kudos: 33





	Comfort of Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!
> 
> I stumbled across a prompt on Tumblr a while ago, and it inspired this fic. Nothing major happens in it - I have this whole other very dramatic fic planned in my head, but with the current state of the world, I didn't feel like writing anything too dramatic just now. This one is just a really sweet one I wrote to distract myself for a bit - hopefully, it'll distract you too! I might work on a second part if you guys like this one, so let me know what you think!
> 
> Enjoy xx

The walk home from his night shifts were, in Kyle’s opinion and to put it simply, a _fucking bore_. He loved his job, he truly did. But as one could expect, working as a nurse in the A&E department of one of the biggest hospitals in London was far from being a walk in the park, especially so when he was assigned the understaffed 11pm-7am shift. If you added to that the fact that living in London meant commuting for hours on end to scarcely travel 3 miles, it was hard not to let it exhaust you.

Apparently, it was one of those days. One of those days when he felt absolutely knackered as he left the hospital and headed towards the closest tube station, and no amount of trying was enough to avoid letting the harsh London rain take its toll on him. To be fair, it was _pouring with rain_. So much so that he didn’t even bother to shield himself from ending up soaked as he got out of the tube at his usual stop, and instead chose to power-walk all the way to his house share, blinded by the drops sliding along his forehead and into his eyes.

And because he couldn’t see anything and was so eager to get home, peel his clothes off and bury himself in the warmth of his blanket for the rest of the day, Kyle wasn’t really aware of his surroundings and had his breath knocked out of his lungs when something connected _quite violently_ with his hip. He had the time to hear someone yelp and made out the unmistakable clutter of metal against metal above the sound of the rain before he managed to tear himself out of his trance and began in the general direction of the noise.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, rushing to help whoever he’d bumped into climb on their feet again.

‘Whoever’, in the present situation, being his cute neighbour - Kyle was almost certain his name was Dan. Not that it really mattered in this instant: the poor lad was sat directly on the wet and muddy pavement, pressing three fingers against his temple, underneath which Kyle could see blood peeking out. He seemed to be in pain, and Kyle extended his hand out to carefully heave him up, before leaving him hanging there to go pick up the bike their collision had sent crashing into some bins.

“Thanks,” his neighbour said as he grabbed his bike’s handlebars, grimacing a little before he tried walking away from Kyle.

Kyle started forward, because if he was being honest, the amount of blood streaming down the side of maybe-Dan’s face was a bit concerning. He held his hand out again, this time to seize his wrist and keep him from getting on the bike.

“What? Look, mate, I really need to get going, I’m already late for work and…”

Kyle was having none of it. He was used to patients underestimating their injuries, not realising they could actually be in danger, and if he let maybe-Dan ride his bike away and learnt the next day some rando had died after fainting on his bike and getting run over, he didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself. Not to mention maybe-Dan _was_ cute, and in the weeks he’d spent making a habit of watching him water his plants outside after coming home from work from his living room’s window - he wasn’t a creep, promise -, he’d grown quite fond of the guy.

“Yeah, well, take the morning off. You hit that pole pretty hard, and for all you know, you could be concussed. Also, you’re bleeding. Let me have a look at it and clean the wound, at least. As a way to apologise for trying to kill you,” Kyle said with a small smirk.

He heard his neighbour scoff, and slowly shake his head - which must have made him feel lightheaded, because he frowned and patted at his temple again.

“What, you a doctor or something?” he groaned with his eyes closed, as if that would efficiently block out the pain.

Kyle stood there silently, waiting for him to open his eyes again and notice the scrubs he hadn’t changed out of after his shift. He huffed out a laugh when realisation washed over the other man’s face.

“Oh,” maybe-Dan said, and even in the damp cold, Kyle thought he saw him blush. “Sorry. I feel stupid.”

Kyle shrugged, and he was about to reiterate his offer - his _demand_ \- when he saw the blue-eyed man stagger a little and his nursing instinct immediately made him bolt forward to support him.

“You know what, you’re right. I’ll just call in sick,” Dan finally agreed, letting Kyle lead him back to his own porch and abandoning his bike by the front steps. “You live here? I’ve never seen you around before,” he added as the nurse unlocked the door to his house.

Kyle thanked a God he didn’t even believe in that his housemates were all already off to work, otherwise they would most definitely have found a way to take the piss out of him for bringing his crush home. 

“Yeah, I mostly work the night shifts. I’m new at the hospital, and being single and not having kids means you’re not really a priority to get the day shifts,” he explained as he manhandled him all the way to the bathroom, before sitting him down on the edge of the bathtub. “I’m Kyle, by the way,” he introduced himself, and Dan smiled at him, giving him his hand to shake.

“Dan. Nice to meet you. Even though you did just try to kill me.”

Kyle smiled back at him, trying desperately to stop his heart from hammering out of his chest as he took his hand.

“I’m so sorry again. I wasn’t really paying attention, I just really wanted to get home and I couldn’t see anything with all this rain,” he said, but Dan smiled again and shrugged his apologies off. “Hey, you must be freezing. Let me get you something so you can at least change out of your jumper, and I’ll have a look at your head.”

He ran to his room, quickly changing out of his soaked scrubs himself, and came back with a dry hoodie for Dan to swap his shirt against. Meanwhile, he busied himself with opening several drawers to find the first aid kid, therefore giving Dan some privacy to change, and then kneeled in front of him, gesturing for the other man to slightly turn his head in the opposite direction so he could have a better look at his temple.

“So, what do you do for a living then?” he asked as he took a compress and gently tapped it against the wound, in an attempt to make the situation less awkward - although Dan didn’t look altogether that uncomfortable, for a guy who was sitting in a stranger’s bathroom.

“I’m a journalist. And by that I mean, I bring coffee to the actual journalists and write all the shit stories no one else wants to write about,” Dan groaned, to which Kyle huffed a small laugh. “But I don’t really mind it. It’s an easy way to make money, and it gives me enough time to work on my music.”

Kyle shot him a surprised look, throwing the first compress away and taking another one.

“Really? What do you play?”

“The piano, mainly. And I sing a little bit. I’m in a band, actually,” the other man said, averting his eyes and sounding properly embarrassed.

And honestly, Kyle could see it. He might have been biased, having had a small crush on the guy, but even his talking voice was nice to listen to. He wasn’t all too surprised to hear he could sing as well.

“Anything I might have heard?” he prompted him for more information, finally managing to get the blood to stop flowing out of the wound.

“Oh, no. We’re not even really playing yet. We had a small gig planned last week, but I backed out. I just… couldn’t do it,” he said, his cheeks turning a deep shade of pink.

“Ah, that sucks, mate. I’m really sorry,” he said with an empathetic smile, debating on whether he should let the next words die on his tongue or just jump off the cliff. He ended up deciding he had nothing to lose. “I’m sure you’re great, though. And if you need a semi-familiar face to cheer you on in the crowd next time, you know who to call. I’d love to hear what you guys do,” Kyle said, avoiding Dan’s gaze by focusing on the small plaster he was placing on his temple.

Kyle was afraid he was being too straightforward and would weird the other man out - after all, they barely knew each other, and having pined over his neighbour for weeks on end didn’t really qualify for a reason to see him again after he was done cleaning his wound. But that same neighbour was in his bathroom, wearing his hoodie, and not only did Kyle have, once again, nothing to lose, but he was also scared he might never get another opportunity to hang out with him. 

Which shouldn’t have necessarily been a big deal - as far as he knew, Dan was straight and not interested. The only reason he was presently sitting there with him was because Kyle had caused him to get injured, and forced him to take the day off. In fact, if Kyle had been in Dan’s place, he’d have been really annoyed at himself. And it wasn’t like he knew the man and was in love with him, so getting rejected wouldn’t drastically alter his life. Still, though. He liked him enough that his stomach dropped when he saw Dan smile back at him - genuinely, like he was scared Kyle would laugh at him for sharing this part of his life and felt relieved he didn’t.

“Yeah?” he asked in a soft voice, and Kyle had to clear his throat and get up so as not to risk to melt right there and then. “We’re playing in a pub next Friday. You could come if you’d like.”

Kyle hummed while washing his hands, like he was giving it a thought and going over his schedule in his head. Like he wouldn’t find a way to make it to the gig even if he’d been busy on that night.

“Sure, yeah! I’m usually off on Friday’s so I don’t see a reason not to,” he agreed, biting his lip to keep his face from breaking into a smile.

He turned so he could face Dan again, leaning against the bathroom sink as he studied his face.

“What do _you_ do?” the blue eyed man enquired.

“I’m a nurse in the A&E. Not really a doctor, but your guess from earlier was close enough. I just work more and get paid less. And get shouted at more, too,” he joked, and hearing Dan laugh made his heart flutter.

“Sounds heroic. And also traumatic.” 

Kyle laughed a little, then shrugged.

“It does. I love my job, but it’s a lot. I used to want to play music for a living too, but… I don’t know. I really like helping people and feeling useful, though, you know?”

“That sounds heroic too. What do you play? Maybe you could join my band.”

“A little bit of everything. Mostly the keys.”

“Interesting. I might have to keep you close, then,” he said, holding Kyle’s gaze.

“I wouldn’t mind that.”

They stared at each other, and for a minute, Kyle forgot what they were initially talking about, losing himself in Dan’s big blue eyes. He caught a glimpse of the freckles on his nose and cheeks glittering in the shitty bathroom lighting, and felt the sudden urge to trace a pattern between them with his thumb.

_Yeah, he definitely wouldn’t mind Dan keeping him close_. For whatever reason he deemed sensible.

“You feeling alright? I cleaned most of the wound off and I don’t actually think you’re concussed, but I’d still spend the day resting and making sure everything’s normal. If you feel dizzy or notice anything weird, you can just give me a call and I’ll come over,” Kyle advised, writing his number down on a piece of paper before handing it to Dan. “I’m really, really sorry again.”

“I’m fine, you said it yourself, so stop apologising. At least we got to meet. Maybe it was fate,” Dan said jokingly, pushing himself to his feet again.

Kyle didn’t usually believe in fate, but it did feel like someone had put Dan on his path this specific day. As a way to force him to stop pining in silence and actually ask him out. Not exactly what Kyle had done by offering to come and watch Dan play, but he didn’t see how he could properly ask him out after literally throwing him off his bike. The prospect of seeing Dan again was enough to make him hopeful that he’d get a chance to know him better and maybe ask him on a date in the near future. For now, this outcome - and Dan being alright - felt like the most positive outcome of this situation.

“Maybe it was,” he said, chuckling softly. “I’ll walk you back to yours. Just to make sure you don’t slip and die on the way.”

They started down the stairs, but Dan stopped abruptly and Kyle almost knocked him over a second time.

“Your hoodie! Should I…”

“It’s fine, you can keep it. It looks better on you anyway,” Kyle said with a smile, simply to see Dan blush again.

_Maybe not that straight, then_ , he thought, hiding a smirk.

They walked to Dan’s door in comfortable silence, and Dan’s cheeks were still flushed when he looked back at Kyle in his doorway.

“I’ll see you next Friday, then?” Kyle asked, and Dan nodded slowly.

“See you next Friday,” he agreed, and to Kyle, his voice sounded full of promises. “Goodnight, Kyle,” he added with a smile - although the sun was still rising in the distance -, and Kyle couldn’t help but smile too as he stood in the rain, much less resentful of it than he’d been an hour before.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
